World number two Nelly Korda has called the lack of a mixed gender indoor virtual league “an unbelievable miss” following the launch of a women’s competition backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.<\/p>\n
The WTGL will be held in the same Florida venue as the men’s TGL,<\/a> which is currently midway through its second season.<\/p>\n Some of the world’s best female golfers will compete in a season of team matchplay in the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, but Korda suggested not combining the men and women’s events was a missed opportunity.<\/p>\n “I have mixed feelings on it, and I’m surprised no other girls have spoken out about it,” she said.<\/p>\n “It’s a huge and unbelievable miss that we’re not playing alongside the men.<\/p>\n “There’s no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women are on the same playing field, playing for the same exact amount of money. <\/p>\n “But I also think it’s great that we are getting this opportunity, so that’s my mixed feelings.”<\/p>\n The indoor golf set-up features teams of players hitting shots at a five-storey-high simulator screen before moving to a short-game area with bunkers and a green that can rotate 360 degrees, creating hole-to-hole variations.<\/p>\n Asked about the prospect of a mixed-gender event, Mike McCarley, a former TV executive who founded the TGL alongside McIlroy and Woods said the idea had been discussed.<\/p>\n “I think that is something that’s interesting to us and is interesting to the LPGA and is interesting to a lot of the players we’re talking to,” said McCarley.<\/p>\n “Right now, we’re really focused on building (the TGL) out and providing, frankly, a nice stage and really nice platform to showcase the players and their personalities.”<\/p>\n Korda, 27, is yet to commit to entering the event, saying she is “still weighing out the time commitment” required to play in the tournament.<\/p>\n World number one Jeeno Thitikul and British golfers Charley Hull and Lottie Woad are among the players confirmed to compete.<\/p>\n Atlanta Drive beat New York GC 4-3 to win the first TGL title last year<\/a>, with a prize pot of \u00a310.39m being split between the two finalists.<\/p>\n